Circle
by xMichikun
Summary: "Repeat your wish," the voice told her. "I… want you to grant me my true desire once I figure it out," she said as firmly as she could. "You could've worded it better," the voice chuckled. "But, very well. I hereby make a contract with you, Rosette Christopher."
1. Summon

**Disclaimer: Chrono Crusade belongs to Daisuke Moriyama.**

*Note: _Italics_ usually means thoughts.

*Language warning: 1 word

Word count: 1,933.

[Sorry for the bad summary, I couldn't think of anything better. Also sorry for lack of categories. Still unsure of what to categorize this as.]

Chapter 1: Summon

* * *

"Joshua," his older sister fumed behind him. "This is not, I repeat for the umpteenth time, _not_ a good idea."

Joshua finished drawing on the floor and threw the chalk to the side. He rubbed his chalk filled hands on his black shirt, leaving white residue all over it. "C'mon Rosette," he said playfully. "It's not like anything will actually happen. Lighten up."

Rosette groaned. "We don't know that. It could very well be true. Maybe this stuff actually works." She stood next to him, looking at the circle he drew on the basement floor.

He had cleared the furniture out of the way and removed the rug to reveal the cement floor underneath. He then, using a book he got from a friend online as a guide, drew a circle with various markings within it. It was – apparently – a magic summoning circle. Specifically, one to summon demons.

Joshua had always been into the occult. He didn't actually believe in most of what he came across, but the ideas always fascinated him. Other worlds, other spirits, other anything that hasn't been, or can't be proven by science.

This friend of his claimed to summon a demon using the circle in this book. Joshua knew it was a lie, that it was just the friend trying to get attention, but he went along with it. The friend told Joshua he'd send the book, so Joshua could try it himself. Joshua agreed, willing to humor his friend.

So here he was, looking through the book for the next step. Rosette pestered him the whole time about it, saying "Mom and Dad won't like this," "what if it goes wrong?" and being paranoid in general. He had tried to assure her that nothing would happen, but to no avail.

 _No matter_ , he thought. _Once I do this, she'll see it was just fun and games_.

Joshua finished reading and closed the book. "All that's left is the blood," he chimed. He took his dad's butterfly knife from his right jeans pocket, set the book on the ground, and prepared himself.

Rosette immediately grabbed his left arm. "Now this is where I draw the line," she said with a very serious face.

He sighed. "Seriously, Rose, it's fine. Just a drop or two will be fine."

His sister reached for the knife with her other hand. "No. Just no. Stop this now or I'll…. I dunno, I'll beat you senseless," she threatened.

He moved the knife out of her reach. "You do that every day. That's a pretty empty threat for me," he laughed. She reached out for the knife again, and he moved it away again. "Just let me try Rose, please?" He gave her his best puppy face – the one he knew she could never resist.

Though, this time it failed. "No," she insisted. "This time, I really will beat you so hard, you'll be knocked out for a week."

The younger blond winced. "That sounds more like a death threat."

"It is," the older blond growled. Then, taking Joshua by surprise, she jumped to grab the knife, throwing Joshua off his balance, and knocking him down.

They both landed with a thud. Joshua sat up once his sister stood up off of him, but panicked when he saw Rosette's hand bleeding.

"You dumbass! You're cut!" he yelled at her.

"No shit!" she cussed back. "This is all your fault!" she clenched a fist at him, but the pain from her hand made her stop. "Ow!" she shook her hand, as if flailing it would help.

Unknowingly, though, Rosette had flung some of her blood onto the circle.

 **X**

The circle glowed purple and pulsated. Feeling the air began to move around her, Rosette looked over to the circle and gasped in shock. She knew something would happen.

She turned to look at her brother, who was also looking at the circle in awe. "Look at what you've done!" she yelled.

"I swear, nothing was supposed to-" Joshua began.

"Happen? Well, something's happening now. And we need to stop it!" she told him.

"Uh, well, I don't know how!" the boy yelped. "I didn't think... I never... I just don't...!" he stuttered.

 _Ugh, I knew this would go badly!_ Rosette thought. She looked back at the circle, which was now glowing red. The wind around it picked up, though oddly nothing in the room seemed to be moving or flying around despite how hard the wind blew.

 _Huh?_ Rosette looked around the basement area. Nothing was being blown around. She looked down at herself. Her sweater, shirt, and hair were whipping around her, but when she looked over at Joshua, he was fine, clothes in place. _What the heck is going on here?_ the girl thought. The wind gained speed, and she struggled to keep her footing. "Joshua!" she called, but her brother continued to gawk at the circle. _Can he not hear me?_ "Joshua!" she called again, but no response.

Before she could call a third time, the wind lifted her from the ground, and she seemed to be sucked into a tornado. Her hair whipped all around her face, not letting her properly see what was going on. She could feel that she was being lowered into the center of the tornado, and though she tried to fight it, she was soon sucked into a dark void that lay there.

 **X**

Rosette stood… somewhere. It was pure black, she couldn't see anything around her. _Where am I?_ "Hello?" she said in a normal voice. There was no echo, no anything, that Rosette wasn't even sure she actually said anything. "Hello?" she yelled, only sure she said something out loud this time by the movement of her mouth.

She tried to move forward, but it didn't feel like she was walking. It didn't feel like she was floating either, though. _Oh god_ , she thought. _Am I dead?_

"No," a voice suddenly echoed throughout… where ever she was. She jumped upon hearing it.

"Is someone here?" she asked out loud, only sure she said something, again, by the movement of her mouth.

"…Yes." The voice, she realized, seemed to come from all around her.

"Where am I?" she asked the voice. She started walking forward, but the voice continued to come from all around her.

"Are you the one who summoned me?" the voice questioned.

Rosette froze. _Summoned?_ "N- no, my brother made a circle and I just-" she began to explain.

"But it was your blood that was used, was it not?" the voice interrupted. "That makes you the one who summoned me."

"I didn't mean to though!" Rosette began to panic. Who did she summon? Where was this person?

"…Are you really not aware of what you've just done?" the voice said after a pause.

Rosette shook her head, then when she realized it was probably too dark to see her, she said "No. Can you please tell me where I am?"

A soft purple spotlight illuminated a spot ahead of her. In the light was a dark figure, hunched over. Rosette approached it, though she was unsure she could actually move anywhere.

The dark figure stood up, and Rosette stopped moving. The person wore tattered clothes, and had wings behind them. They had claws on the ends of their fingers and what appeared to be long pointed ears. Above the ears were horns. She couldn't make out any of their facial features, but could see they had gold eyes that glowed.

She gulped, and took a step back. "W-who are you?"

The person chuckled at her question. "I'm not a _who_ , I'm a _what_. I'm a demon," the voice from before told her.

Rosette's heart raced in her chest. _A demon? Did we… actually summon a demon?_

"No, _you_ summoned a demon, Rosette Christopher," the voice said.

"How do you know my name?" Rosette yelled. She was terrified of this person. _Wait, did he just read my mind?_

"Your blood tells me everything about you," the voice chuckled. "And yes, I can read your mind. At least in this space, I can."

Rosette wanted to run away, but she didn't even know where she was, nor if she could find a way out. She just continued to take steps away from the figure. "S-send me back. Please," she pleaded. "I didn't mean to summon you."

"No can do," the voice said. The figure flapped its wings slightly. "You've called upon me, and so we have to make a contract."

"B-but I don't want to make a contract," Rosette shakily told the demon. "I just want to go home now." She held back tears as she spoke.

The figure brought its hand up to its head, and then stepped out of the light. Once it did, the light went out, and Rosette was back in the dark void by herself.

"Is there nothing you want? No desire to have something you currently don't? Some _one_ you want?" the voice came from all around her again.

The blond shook her head. "Please just let me go back home," she pleaded again.

"I can't do that," the voice sighed. _Sighed?_ "I have to make a contract with you for you and me to be able to leave this realm. Otherwise we'll be trapped in here forever."

Rosette collapsed onto the ground. "I… Forever?" She looked down to her hands, just now noticing that she could see herself perfectly fine despite the nothingness around her. She also saw that on her left hand she still had the cut from before, though it was no longer bleeding.

The voice came from directly ahead of her, instead of all around this time. "You just need to make a contract with me. Just give me a wish; a desire of yours that I can fulfill. Then we can get out of here." The voice actually sounded kind and sympathetic, which surprised Rosette greatly.

"Then, can I wish to get out of here?" Rosette asked.

The voice replied with a sigh. "No, it doesn't work like that."

"How about I wish to not have a contract with you?"

"You do realize how paradoxical that is, right?" the voice said with a slight annoyance. Rosette almost started crying again. How the heck was she supposed to get out then?

The voice sighed a third time. "Just make a contract." Rosette hiccuped. "…How about you wish for me to grant your desire once you figure out what it is?"

Rosette wiped away not yet existent tears. "Would that work?"

"Yeah, it should," the voice said warmly.

"Then, that's my wish," she told the voice.

"Okay."

Rosette felt something pulling at her hand, and though she was still scared, she let it pull her up onto her feet. Her hand was then lowered a bit, and she could feel a warm breath on it.

"Repeat your wish," the voice told her.

"I… want you to grant me my true desire once I figure it out," she said as firmly as she could.

"You could've worded it better," the voice chuckled. "But, very well. I hereby make a contract with you, Rosette Christopher."

She felt lips press onto her hand, and suddenly wind came from her hand as well. She used her free arm to cover her face from the wind.

"Rosette!" Joshua's voice came from her left. She lowered her arm, and saw that she was back in the basement. She looked down at her hand, and saw a person on their knees, with their lips on her hand.

 _Not a person,_ she thought. _A demon._

* * *

Helllllo everyone! Michi here! Been a while, huh?

What am I doing, you say? Well, haha, I'm doing something quite dumb, I reply!

Writing fanfiction!

Yep. Despite the fact it has been over two years since I last wrote something (other than essays), I'm at it again.

And instead of continuing any of my other stories like a good author, I discontinued those and decided to make a new one. Isn't that just great? Haha!

Seriously though, someone please stop me before it's too late.

I recently got back into CC, got a bit nostalgic for the fic business, and so I decided to give it another go, knowing full well I'll probably do just as well as I used to.

That is, not very good at all.

But regardless, I'd rather try and fail then not try at all. It really has been some time since I tried to get the creative juices flowing though, so pardon my writing; I'm a bit rusty.

Enough of my silliness, let me actually talk about the story for a bit, yes?

The title is temporary, as I'm still not entirely sure where this story should go. Titles were never my strong suit (or anything for that matter), but I'm sure eventually I'll find something better fitting. Feel free, once I post more chapters, to suggest names as well!

I'm sure the summoning thing has been done before in a fic, but I wanted to give it a shot as well.

Originally, I was going to make it Rosette summoning incubus Chrono and having to do _***weird noises that are supposed to imply sex***_ with him in order for him to get stronger or whatever, but I decided against it because… well, I couldn't actually think of a good plot for it lmao

But perhaps I will actually write that story one day! (That's a lie, sorry. I probably won't.)

In the meantime, I hope you guys enjoy my attempt at a fic in over 2 years. This first chapter isn't that great, as there was probably stuff I could've expanded on and made better with more work, but I really wanted to get this first one down so I could share it and figure out where to go from here.

The chapters' releases won't be on a fixed schedule, as it really depends on whether or not I have the motivation to write, but I will try my best at getting something out at least every few months or so.

And of course, the best way you can remind me to do so, is reviewing ;D See you next time!

(Also, could someone help me with the verb tense in the beginning? It seems kinda weird and inconsistent to me, but I can't figure out how to fix it. If not, that's fine. Just asking. And sorry for the long author's note oops.)


	2. Problem

**Disclaimer: Chrono Crusade (originally Chrno Crusade in Japan) is owned by Daisuke Moriyama**

*Note: _Italics_ usually means thoughts.

Word Count: 2802

Chapter 2: Problem

* * *

 _Not a person,_ she thought. _A demon._

Said demon looked up at Rosette. Its hair was a dark purple, and its skin caramel brown. It had long pointed ears, and three red small orbs on its forehead. Behind it, coming from the back of its head, was a long bone tail, or at least she thought it was a tail. Its face had multiple thin metals strips attached. Above its ears on either side was a circular metal piece, where its horns previously were when she saw it in the void. She wasn't sure what kind of clothes it was wearing, but she saw that it was shirtless.

The demon stared at her, with its golden eyes. There was no particular emotion Rosette could distinguish, but it seemed to be observing her, and she couldn't look away from its gaze.

She was brought back to her senses by Joshua calling her. "Rosette!"

Both she and the demon looked over to the younger blond. Joshua stood up and glared at the demon. "Who the- Who's this?" he sneered at the demon.

Rosette looked to the demon, who stood up beside her. It was much taller than her; she probably couldn't even touch the top of its head if she tried. She shook her head. _Not now, Rosette,_ she told herself. The demon glared back at her brother, who was standing as if he were ready to attack the unknown figure. The demon continued to hold onto her hand, which also probably didn't make Joshua very happy.

"Well?" Joshua hissed. He directed the question to the demon, knowing that it wasn't something they should be welcoming with open arms. _Of course not,_ Rosette told herself. _Just by looking at it you can tell it's dangerous_. She finally turned to respond to her brother.

"Uh, Josh, this is… a demon," she said, knowing how bad it sounded as the words came out of her mouth. "I had to… make a contract with it in order to-"

"He needs to go back. _Now,_ " Joshua yelled at the demon.

The demon smirked at the boy. " _Make me,_ " it said.

Joshua ran up to it and threw a punch, but the demon used its free hand to catch it. Joshua struggled to break away from its grasp, and the demon just smiled. "Joshua!" Rosette yelled. She looked up at the demon. "Let him go!" she demanded.

The demon did as told, and let go of Joshua's fist. Joshua stepped back and rubbed his now free hand. "I'm serious," Joshua said menacingly. "You need to get out of here."

The demon laughed. "Calm down, buddy. I'm not here to make trouble." It lifted Rosette's hand to show Joshua. "I'm just here for her. Once our business is done, I'm gone for good."

Joshua looked over to Rosette. "Break whatever contract you have with him," he told her firmly.

"What?" she gasped.

The demon stood in front of Rosette before she could say anything more. "That's a bad suggestion. You have no idea what would happen if she tried it," it growled.

Joshua stood firmly. "You'd be significantly weakened in the process. You'd try to kill her before she could finish the ceremony. We could probably get an exorcist to protect her and finish you off," he explained.

The demon laughed. "Is that what you humans think?" It pulled Rosette in front of itself, and grabbed her chin. "She'd probably die in the process, sure, but not by my hand. Cutting off ties with a demon you've formed a contract with isn't that easy, bud. Not even exorcists could do much to help."

Rosette freed herself from the demon's grasp. She walked over to her brother and grabbed his shoulders. "Joshua, stop. We need to talk this out," she told him.

Joshua pointed to the demon. "Do you really think we can talk it out with this thing? He just wants your soul Rose." Now Joshua stood in front of Rosette. "We need to get rid of him."

Rosette grabbed Joshua's arm and made him turn around to look at her. "You need to listen to me, _now_ ," she glared at her brother. The demon laughed, and Rosette turned to look at it. "And you need to shut up," she growled. The demon stopped laughing and simply crossed its arms.

She looked back at her brother. "Listen. I was in some… dark space, alone, and it was there. I had to make a contract with them or else I would've been stuck in there forever. _I had no choice._ "

Joshua sneered at the demon. "You probably could've found a way out without selling your soul to a _demon_ ," he yelled.

"No, she wouldn't have. Souls enter that place to make a contract and only come out once a contract has been formed. Otherwise, they'll stay in the void until their soul is consumed by the darkness," the demon told Joshua.

"I said shut it," Rosette snapped at the demon. "Regardless, Josh. It's done. Once it does its thing it'll be gone."

"And what is _its thing_ that _it_ must do?" he questioned his sister.

"I asked for it to grant me my true desire… once I figure out _what_ my true desire is," Rosette hesitated.

Joshua rubbed his temple. " _That's_ what you made a contract for?"

Rosette rebutted, "Well, I couldn't wish to get out of there, nor could I wish to not make a contract, so it was the next best thing!"

"That second one is kinda para-"

"Yeah, paradoxical, I know. I wasn't exactly in a state of emotional or mental clarity. I just wanted out," she told her brother. She turned to talk to the demon, who sat down on the ground during their small talk. "If I just wish for anything, will you go away?"

The demon shook its head. "Your contract specified _true_ desire, not just anything you'd like."

"How do you know whether something is my true desire or not," she questioned.

"By whether or not I can grant it," the demon replied.

Joshua walked over and sat on the basement couch. "Rose, you're taking this a bit too lightly. There's a _demon_ in our household. How the heck are we supposed to explain this to Mom and Dad?" he asked as he rubbed his head.

As if on cue, the three heard a door open upstairs and a woman saying "We're home!"

Joshua and Rosette looked at each other, then at the demon sitting on the summoning circle.

"Joshua? Rosette?" a male voice called from above.

"S-sorry, dad! We're in the basement! Be up in a moment!" Rosette yelled. Joshua scrambled to put everything as it was before.

"What are you two doing down there?" their dad inquired.

"J-just hanging!" Joshua yelled. He told the demon to move off of the circle, and pulled the rug back over the cement to cover the circle. He then tried to move the furniture back into place as quickly as he could.

They could hear their father walking towards the basement door above them. "And what does hanging mean?"

Rosette looked over at the demon. He was out of place. _That's an understatement._ "Can… are you able to like, transform or anything into someone more normal-looking? I mean, like a human?" she whispered to it.

The demon scoffed. It closed its eyes and glowed for a bit. Once the glow stopped, the demon had transformed, sort of. Instead of its previous clothes, it had clothes similar to the ones Joshua wore. Its wings, bone tail, claws, metal traces, and forehead orbs were gone. Its hair remained purple, and it still was the same height as before, but its eyes changed from gold to a dark red, and its claws changed to normal hands. It definitely _looked_ more human, but his presence was still very out of place.

The sibling's dad started walking down the steps to the basement. "What are you kids doing down here?" he asked playfully.

Rosette shoved the demon onto the sofa and gave it a magazine to hold. Joshua sat in the lazy seat across from the sofa, and Rosette sat next to the demon and grabbed a book herself.

Their father reached the bottom of the stairs, and looked quizzically at the trio.

"H-hey, Dad," Rosette and Joshua stuttered in unison. The demon looked over to the man, but his gaze made the dad take a step back.

"Rosette, Joshua, who is this?" their father asked worriedly.

The siblings looked at each other and then at the demon, same as they had done before. "This… is a friend of Joshua's," Rosette started.

Joshua gave a face of disagreement, but quickly recovered and nodded hesitantly. "From… school," he added.

Their dad gave them a suspicious look. "You know how I feel about guests that I don't know about," he told the siblings.

"Y-yeah," Rosette desperately thought of an explanation. "B-but we met him on our way home and just… invited him to come with us!"

"Yep! We forgot to call you first because we hadn't seen him in a while and we were busy catching up!" Joshua added.

Their father raised an eyebrow. "You said he was from school. Don't you see him there every day?"

Rosette turned to look at her brother. They were losing their dad. "Uh, well, I hadn't been in school because he was-" Joshua started. Rosette tried to subtly shake her head 'no' at him, because that wouldn't go over very well with their dad. "…was out of the countr- the state. Visiting family." Joshua finished.

Rosette looked back over to their dad with a shaky smile. She knew they hadn't convinced him.

Their dad looked over at the 'guest.' "Who are you, son? What's your name?" he asked the demon.

"His name is-" Rosette tried to intervene.

"I asked him, honey, not you," her father interrupted. Rosette shrunk in her seat. "So, who are you?"

Joshua was about to say something, but the demon beat him to it. "My name is Chrono."

The father furrowed his eyebrows. "Chrono? Sounds fake."

"I answered your question," 'Chrono' replied with a shrug.

Rosette gulped. She could tell this wasn't going well.

"Alright, _Chrono._ Is there a last name to go with that?" The sibling's father began to walk towards them.

"Nope. Just Chrono."

Their father now stood in front of the demon, who was looking at the magazine. "Listen here," their father began. The demon looked up at the man. "I don't know who you are, nor what you're doing with my children, but if you know what's good for you, you'd leave immediately."

"Dad-" Rosette began, but her father held up a hand.

"I can tell that you guys are trying to cover for him. So he better leave now, before I call the police for breaking and entering," he told the demon in a stern voice.

"Sorry old man, but it's just as they said. They invited me here." 'Chrono' looked over at Rosette, who shivered in her seat at his gaze. Joshua growled behind the father.

"And I'm kicking you out." The dad smacked the magazine out of the demon's hands, and pulled him up by the shirt. The demon towered over their short father, but the man did not cower.

"Honey?" the sibling's mother came down the stairs as well. She reached the bottom and froze when she saw the tall man in front of her husband. " _Honey?_ " she said worriedly to her husband.

The father looked over at his wife. "Darling, please go call the police. We have an unwanted hoodlum here."

The mother nodded, and began to go up the steps.

'Chrono' held out his hand to her. "Wait," it said. The mother froze again, and the demon looked down upon the father. "I won't be leaving anytime soon. Thank your daughter for that."

Rosette's father glanced over to her, and she furiously shook her head 'no.' "It doesn't seem like she wants you here, so you'd better go," he said to the demon.

"No can do," the demon said with a smile. He brought his hand over and placed it on top of the father's head.

"No!" Rosette and Joshua said in unison.

The area under the demon's head glowed red for a moment, and the father collapsed. The wife ran over to the husband, and Chrono placed his hand on her head and did the same. She collapsed as well.

"WHAT DID YOU DO?" Rosette screamed, tears falling down her face.

The demon brought his index finger to his mouth, indicating she should be quiet. Joshua had stood up out of his seat, looking down at his parents.

"They're fine," the demon said. He kneeled down in front of them.

The spouses groaned and slowly sat up. Rosette gasped and wiped her tears away. Joshua gasped as well. The father grabbed his head, and the demon offered its hand to him.

Their father looked up at the demon, and accepted its hand. "Thank you," the father said in a daze. The demon also helped the mother onto her feet.

He smiled at them and said, "Hello. My name is Chrono. I'm a friend of Rosette and Joshua. I'm living with you and your family until my parents return from a business trip. You treat me as you would a dear friend. You don't question my being here, nor the things I say, and simply accept it. Do you understand?"

The father blinked a few times, and rubbed his head again. "Right. Sorry Chrono, forgive me for earlier. Of course you're welcome here." 'Chrono' smiled at him. "Let's go back up dear," the father told the mother. "We have to prepare for the barbeque tonight." The mother nodded, and accompanied the father back up the stairs.

The siblings gaped at the scene that just unfolded. Joshua walked over to 'Chrono' and grabbed his shirt. "What did you do to our parents?" he growled at the demon.

'Chrono' held up his hands. "It's a simple trick demons can use. We can manipulate some of the memories of humans, and create illusions for ourselves that make it easier for us to blend in." The demon smiled. "Much easier this way instead of trying to explain, is it not?"

Joshua grit his teeth, but let go of the demon's shirt. Rosette walked up to the demon. "Are they going to be okay?" she asked it.

"Yes. They don't experience any sort of physical pain, nor do they change at all in attitude. I just presented them with the illusion of what I told them," he replied.

Joshua sat in the lazy seat. "Seems a bit too convenient. Any catches?" he asked the demon.

"No. Pure demon power," it replied.

"Now what?" Rosette asked her brother. She felt incredibly tired from the stress created by the situation minutes before. She sat on the couch and rubbed her head. The demon also sat down next to her.

Joshua looked over at the demon. "You're going to explain everything we need to know about this contract. There's no way I'm going to approve of this without knowing what's going on," he ordered the demon.

'Chrono' laughed. "I don't have to explain anything to _you._ She's the one who needs to know anything, and besides…" The demon smirked. "I don't need your _approval_ for anything. The contract's done."

Joshua was going to yell at the demon, but Rosette stopped him. "Please, just tell us. I want to sleep but I won't until you tell me all I need to know about our contract. And I want Josh here to help me understand, because if I'm by myself, I don't think I'd get everything because of this damn headache," she told the demon.

The demon stared at her, then placed his hand on her head. After a few moments, Rosette's headache dissolved and she was left with a clear mind.

"How did you…?" she gawked.

The demon patted her head and smiled. "My power is dependent on your mental and physical health. It's in my best interest to keep you healthy." He rubbed the top of her head. "Stuff like that is no problem for me."

Rosette looked down at her left hand. In the void, her hand was cut, but not bleeding. Now, there was no cut at all. "…My hand was cut when I accidentally summoned you, but now it's fine." She showed her hand to Joshua, whose mouth opened a bit on seeing it was healed. "Was that you, as well?"

'Chrono' nodded. Rosette turned her body to face the demon. The demon removed its hand from her head, and turned to face her as well. "Please tell me how the contract works," Rosette asked the demon.

* * *

Yo!

Thank you to everyone who read the first chapter and also to you guys that reviewed! I'm so glad to see there are people still around and kicking here.

This chapter is out so quick because I immediately went to work on chapter 2 after I published chapter 1. I'm already working on chapter 3, but don't expect it to come out just as quick as this one did (not because it'll be longer, or because I won't be uploading it so quick, but rather because it's just better not to get your hopes up and think I'm usually this good with uploading chapters haha).

While I was typing up this chapter, I realized I'm already becoming a bit inconsistent with some aspects. It's nothing major – just small details – but I want to keep this story as consistent as I can. I've always gone back with my old stories and reread older chapters to make sure everything flowed correctly, and I'll continue to do so here. I've already gone back to chapter 1 and fixed some lines, so hopefully most everything lines up right now.

This chapter is about 1k words longer than the last. It's pretty eventful too. Everything seems to be happening back to back, and the poor siblings didn't get to take a breather until the end of this chapter. I know Rosette seems a bit OOC in this chapter (or maybe not even very present at all), but as she said herself, she doesn't have mental clarity right now. We'll have our well-known and loved Rosette later!

I know I don't really have great pacing right now, so please forgive me for that! As I've mentioned before, I'm still rusty when it comes to writing, and the best way to find my groove is to power through, look back on my mistakes, and fix them afterward.

Anyway, please review and give critiques! I'm so excited to be back and writing, and reviews, as with any author, is a great motivator to keep writing.


	3. Contract

**Disclaimer: Chrono Crusade (originally Chrno Crusade in Japan) belongs to Daisuke Moriyama**

*Note: _Italics_ usually means thoughts.

Word Count: 1044

Chapter 3: Contract

* * *

"Please tell me how the contract works," Rosette asked the demon.

"Where do you want me to start?" the demon sighed.

"How about you start with who you are," Joshua said.

The demon glared at the boy, but Rosette agreed. "Who are you?" she asked it. "Like, your name, your… I don't know."

The demon looked back at the older blonde. "Well, you heard my name earlier. I am known as Chrono."

"Chrono?" Rosette echoed. Chrono nodded.

"What's your gender? If you have one," Joshua asked suspiciously.

"What's it to you?" Chrono growled back.

"Josh, serious questions," the girl scolded.

"It is a serious question," the boy replied.

Chrono turned away from the young blond. "If you must know, we demons don't have a fixed gender. We're simply beings. Though, I happen to look like a human male, so I guess you can say I'm male – for simplicity's sake," Chrono responded.

"Josh, really?" Rosette commented. Her brother simply grunted. Rosette thought for a moment. Before, she had so many questions, but now that she could actually ask them, her mind was going blank. "…What was that… dark place? The one I met you in?" she finally asked.

"It has no real fixed name. It's a realm, or another space, separated from the human and demon worlds. Though, most just refer to it as 'the void,'" Chrono answered. Joshua whispered " _original"_ under this breath, and the demon shot him a look. "It's where the souls of humans and demons meet in order to form a contract," he continued. "Once a human completes the summoning circle and offers their blood, their soul is brought into that realm. Depending on what circle they use, a demon is also summoned into that realm. Then, the two form a contract," he concluded.

"Wait," Joshua said. "You said the human's soul enters the realm? But…" the boy looked over at his sister. "When the circle started glowing, I couldn't look away. But when I looked over to Rosette, she wasn't there. I called out for her and a moment later there was a flash. And then," – he glared at the demon – "you were there with her."

Chrono shrugged. "I don't know what happens in the human world while the contract is being formed."

"You should know, though. You guys are the ones doing it, aren't you?" Joshua yelled.

Chrono laughed. "This is a system that has been in place longer than I've been alive. I don't know much outside of what I learn from my own kind." He waved a hand at the boy. "Besides, we don't control anything. We also can be called at any moment to form a contract with no warning."

"What were you doing before you were called?" Rosette asked, curious.

Chrono glared at her. "Next question," he snapped.

Rosette flinched a bit. Joshua asked the next question. "What does she need to do in order to break the contract?"

The girl sighed. It was only a matter of time before he asked. Though she was a bit surprised he hadn't asked right away. The demon said to the young blond, "I told you, I don't advise it." He then turned to look at Rosette. "It's hard to explain with a few words, but when a contract is formed, part of the human's and demon's souls are fused. If you were to try and break off a contract with a demon, without allowing the demon to complete their job, you'd be forcibly ripping your soul and the demon's apart. But…" his expression darkened. "It's a very hard ritual. Very, _very_ few humans ever survive it. So, it's probably best that you just… don't. Let me finish my job and I'll be on my way."

Joshua pondered what the demon just said, not realizing Chrono's expression. Rosette did, though, and she wondered. "Chrono," she began. "Did you have a contract before you met me?" she whispered to him.

The demon stood up. "Well, that's that. No more questions? Good," he ignored her question. "You two should probably go back up to your parents. I'm just going to stay down here while you guys do… whatever you do," Chrono walked around looking at the basement.

"What?" Joshua exclaimed. "We're not-"

"Okay!" Rosette grabbed her brother and pushed him to the stairs. "We'll see you later. Uh, be good," she smiled at the demon and dragged her brother upstairs.

 **X**

"What the heck was that?" Joshua asked his sister as she closed the door to the basement. "We need more information from him!"

Rosette walked past him. "He's going to be here for a while, probably. We'll get more out of him as time goes," she told him.

The boy scoffed and she turned to look at him. "You're fine with him _staying_ here?" He motioned to the kitchen, where their parents most likely were. "He brainwashed mom and dad. He could probably do the same to us. I mean, he is a…" he looked behind him. "A _demon_ ," he whispered harshly to her.

She just shrugged. "I trust him."

Joshua held his sister's shoulders. "You trust that _thing?_ Are you crazy or something?"

"Well, he advised against breaking the contract. He seemed pretty worried about it," she shrugged again.

"That's because he just wants your soul. And if you break the contract, he doesn't get it. How do you not see this?" the young blond covered his face.

"Rose? Josh?" their father called.

The girl broke from his grasp and walked towards the kitchen. "I'm the one who's going to deal with him. So it's my decision," she said calmly. "Coming dad!" she yelled.

Joshua scratched the back of his head. "So the desire thing. How are you going to figure that out?"

Rosette stopped. "I don't know," she said. She looked down. "How am I supposed to figure out what I want?" She scratched her chin. "I don't even know what I want to do in the future."

Their mom came to them. "What are you guys standing around for?" she smiled at them. "Dinner's almost ready. Come help set the table," she told them.

"Sorry mom!" Rosette followed their mother. "C'mon Josh."

Joshua sighed. _I refuse to just accept this,_ he thought. _I'm gonna fix this mess._

* * *

Good day!

Thanks again to those of you that read and those of you that reviewed. Sorry I didn't reply to reviews this time! I had some stuff going on.

Though, to the guest reviewer: I do indeed know Rosette's and Joshua's dad's name is Vinsent. It'll come up later, but thank you for reminding me!

Anyway, sorry this chapter is so short. I wanted to get some stuff out of the way, and I'm sure that you [the reader] also have questions, but I promise that more will come up as the story goes on. Though, if you would like to leave a message with your own questions, I can make sure to take note to address them at some point.

This is basically the end of the introductory chapters. Looking back on it now… I probably could've complied these first 3 chapters into one long one but I mean…. I'm faster when writing in chunks. Sorry for so much jumping.

And with that, I'll see you guys next time~


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